‘Qaddafi’ the croc eyes new name as rebels storm Tripoli
反抗軍攻的黎波里 鱷魚「格達費」改名保身

A crocodile named “Muammar Qaddafi” is seen at the Hamat Gader crocodile farm in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.這張攝於以色列佔領的戈蘭高地的哈馬特加代爾鱷魚農場的照片，是一尾名為「穆阿邁爾‧格達費」的鱷魚。

Photo: AFP照片：法新社

A crocodile named “Muammar Qaddafi” may be given a new name to spare his life after Libyan rebels stormed Tripoli, in a move likely to spell the end for the country’s autocratic leader Muammar Qaddafi.

News out of Libya has worried keepers at the Hamat Gader crocodile farm on the occupied Golan Heights, who are concerned the demise of the Libyan strongman could spell a sticky end for their own “Qaddafi” — a three-meter giant who weighs some 230kg.

In 2004, another of their crocodiles called “Yasser Arafat” died just weeks after the veteran Palestinian leader passed away in a Paris hospital in November 2004, spokeswoman Meital Dana told AFP.

“He died at the end of 2004, just a few weeks afterwards,” she told AFP, confirming a story first reported in Maariv.

Park officials are now looking into a new name in the hope it will spare “Qaddafi” the same fate, she said.

The giant crocodile won his name for both his size and the year he was born: 1975, when Qaddafi first published The Green Book outlining his political philosophy, Dana said.

Hamat Gader is the largest crocodile farm in the Middle East, and home to around 200 crocodiles from all over the world, including several others named after world leaders, Dana said.

Besides Qaddafi, they have a “Putin,” after Russian Prime Minister and ex-president Vladimir Putin, and one named for the Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi.